Monday December 1st Day 11

Thanks for comments. It is good to hear from you all. Time is limited on the computer, and my typing skills are limited. I am not writing e-mails, it would take toooo long, so your comments are the only communication I get from the outside world. I can't believe I haven't heard from J. Where are you J?
The political situation over here is of concern now. We are not in any danger, but there is a problem with getting us out of the country. I have a little time up my sleeve, so I am hoping that the situation will be sorted soon, otherwise my travel plans may change. There are 4 volunteers who are leaving here either tomorrow or Wednesday, instead of Friday, and they are having to take trains to Singapore, and trying to find connecting flights from there. It is putting a bit of a dampener on our experience here. My due date for leaving Trang is December 19th. My flight back to Melbourne leaves Bangkok on December 21st. At the moment there is a backlog of at least 100,000 people to move out of Bangkok!!!I will be patient.
Monday, the start of my 2nd week in school. Brooke came with me again today. It could have been her final day. She is one of the volunteers who may leave tomorrow. I will be on my own again. No matter, I will manage. We are really getting stuck into the alphabet, the colours and counting in English. We also started on body parts, "heads shoulders knees and toes". Thanks Margie Beadle for your song book. Its just perfect.
It is still raining!!

The Weekend

On Thursday, I had another volunteer, Brooke, to help in my classroom. We had a good day together, and I found that just having somebody with whom I could speak English, was comforting. Consequently, I was more relaxed. The aim is to teach them basic English, so I have been singing the ABC song, getting them to write, and colour in pictures. I am getting to know the children, and they, me. There is much repetition and I am sure a pattern will form.
And so to the weekend.....
All 7 volunteers decided to visit Railay Island, which is a 2 hour bus ride, and a 10min. long boat ride from the CCS Centre. Five of us booked into the Railay Island Resort Hotel. It felt like luxury, though the beds were rock hard. It seems all beds are rock hard in Thailand, no matter how much you pay for them! Railay Island is not an Island. It is part of the mainland, but can only be accessed by boat. Consequently there are no roads, only footpaths that wind around like a maze. There are "money spending places" and restaurants and bars. The sea is beautiful and warm, the beaches are sandy. I spent a great deal of time lounging round the pool, then wandering to the beach, and swimming in both. It was very relaxing and most enjoyable. We had 2 full days there. One of the young ones went SCUBA diving for a day, but was disappointed that the water was murky and visibility was poor. The weekend passed all too quickly, and at 3pm on Sunday, our long boat was waiting to take us over the water back to our hire bus, and back to base camp. The weather at Railay was great all weekend. As soon as we hit Trang, the rain started again. Apparently we are sitting under a hovering monsoon, which will not move away. It is unusual as this is now winter, the best time to visit.

Wednesday Nov. 25th DAY6

It's American Day of Independence today, but the Americans here forgot all about it. We are all too busy in our respective schools. Today as I walked into my classroom, the teacher had to leave. She had a meeting to go to, so I was on my own. It was good to be on my own, but hard work. The other volunteers work in twos, and I decided today that it would be good to have another person with me to bounce ideas off and give me help with the 2 different grades. There is absolutely no English in this school, apart from the odd "Good Morning". However, I managed to work my way through the morning without too much hassle. Back at the CCS centre after lunch, I told Jack of my thoughts. Brooke, a young girl from America, suggested that she would like to come out to the school with me. Her placement was in a pre school where there are many staff. The children in her pre school are from more privileged families. They have learnt more than the kids at my school even though they are a couple of years younger! So tomorrow she will come with me. I am sure it will be much easier. We don't work on a Friday, so on Thursday afternoon we are all going to Railay Resort, which is a couple of hours away. We are looking forward to a well earned rest. Consequently there will be no blog for a few days!!!
After work yesterday, we were treated to watch some Thai boxing. What a sport when you watch it close up. The energy they expend is huge. I had a go. There are photos to prove it, but they are still on my camera.
Today we were treated to the hot springs. The coolest ones were 40c. We all went in and felt better for it. A cold shower followed. The end of week one is fast approaching, and I'm sure the time will go faster and faster from now.
If anyone is listening to the news of trouble in Thailand, we only heard about it from Jack, who works here. There is no problem where we are, and I assume that by the time it comes for us to leave, it will all have blown over.

Tuesday 25th Day 5

My first Day at School. Our bus leaves the centre at 8.00am. I am the 2nd person to be dropped off. It only takes 15 minutes to reach the school. I am introduced to the Teacher, but find it difficult to say her Thai name. Then I am introduced to the children. They try to say my name and some of the older ones do, but I have been given a Thai nick name- Nuan- said New ann. It means bright, cheerful.The children are 4 and 5 years old, so its a composite grade in an under privileged area. After 15 minutes the teacher disappears and leaves me to do anything I can think of. I do numbers. They are obviously fascinated by me, but they seem quite happy to listen. The attention span of the young ones is not long, so I am quite happy when the teacher arrives back about half an hour later. The morning passes quickly. I help with their sums; we say the colours in English and have a game to learn the colours. Then there is free time to play. Not too bad. I know I will have to think up some activities to do over the next few weeks. Lunch time arrives at 11.30. The food is cooked by the teachers ( they seem to have duties to do the cooking) and I am taken over to an undercover area to eat what is prepared. The staff are very friendly and keen to try out their English. The lunch is again delicious. The one thing you notice all over Thailand are the stray dogs that wander everywhere. They look sick and mangy and nobody touches them for fear of rabies. 12.15 I am picked up from school and home I go. End of Day 1
We're now off to watch some Thai kick boxing.
Thanks the crew from Yack and Christine and David. Lovely to have your comments.

Monday 24th Day 4

I am a day behind with my blog. The connections here are intermittent to say the least. That goes for the telephone too.

Monday was our Orientation Day. We were driven to our schools and introduced to the teachers. Unfortunately, my school wasn’t on the agenda, so I had to wait until I started on Tuesday. I could do no preparation as I really didn’t know what to expect. In the afternoon we had a tour of Trang, and did a bit of shopping at the local Tesco store. CCS then treated us to a meal at a local restaurant. It was- “aroi”-delicious. So with little to tell you for Monday perhaps I will enlighten you on the way of life up to now for the volunteers.
The house in which we are housed is very basic. Our bedroom has 3 bunk beds. There are 3 bedrooms all the same. Dale and I are lucky because there are only the 2 of us in the room. Glenda is by herself in another building and feeling lonely, so she may join us on Tuesday. Even if she does, we can all have a bottom bunk. The beds are rock hard, and the pillows are not down filled!!! We have an air conditioner in the bedroom. That’s wonderful, as the weather is always hot and humid and we leave it on all night. The toilet block is outside, and there are showers and laundry facilities. None of the basins in the house has hot running water, only the showers. No shoes are allowed to be worn in the house. Breakfast is the only meal that is like home- that is, cereal and toast. All other meals are Thai. I’ll be craving for a steak by the time I get home in December!!! We each do our own washing of plate and spoon after each meal, but none of us minds. It is not meant to be luxurious, and it isn’t. But everyone gets on, and the longer we are together, the better it gets. We have already planned our weekend and are going off to Railay Resort, which is on the island of the same name. And so to Tuesday….

The photos above are of 1)Me at the Chinese Temple 2)The Volunteers and staff having lunch on the beach 3)Dale and me 4)The volunteers

SUNDAY 23RD DAY 3

It was a rest day today but it turned out to be a very busy day. We woke up to rain, though that abated as promised around 10.00am. It was a day of visits, both cultural and pleasurable. Our first stop was a Chinese Temple where we took part in the "Stick Ceremony". We lit candles and placed them in sand, then lit incense sticks and placed them in sand too. There was much bowing and praying, and burning, but it was all fascinating. We left the Chinese Temple and drove to Trang Beach, about 36kms away. There we sat at tables on the beach and ate an early lunch. The Andaman Sea was VERY warm, so off we went for a swim.(Hard to believe, but I was first in the water!)It was lovely. There were market stalls along the beach, ( there seem to be market stalls set up at random everywhere) so we walked and looked, but didn't buy. Glenda joined us at the market. She has been at CCS for 5weeks already and had been away for the weekend. She will be with us for another 2 weeks. Her accent was obviously north of England- Lincoln in fact. It was good to talk to someone who was used to the place. She joined us for our final visit of the day to the Aquarium, which was just up the road. It was not as upmarket as the Melbourne Aquarium, but we saw fish, large and small, eels, turtles, and to finish off there was a seal show. As the day passed, the weather became more and more humid.
Back at base, we had an early dinner-Rice, a Pork stir fry and a Tofu stir fry with asparagus. Very tasty, but we all wonder how long we can take rice and stir fry!!!
Tonight we were driven into town to look at the night markets. The place was alive and buzzing. It seems that most people over here, go out to eat, but the food is all from market stands rather than restaurants. Not for me. The flies hover, and the food sits in the heat of the day. I can't think that it's healthy.
Tomorrow we learn what we have to do in our placements. Margie Beadle will be interested to know that we have again been told that we have to do Lesson Plans. All will be revealed....

DAY 2 TRANG

I have arrived at last. It has been pouring with rain all day. If it weren't so humid, I would think this was England. The house which will be my home for the next month, is about as I expected. It is very basic. I am sharing a room with Dale, a Canadian girl who I met in the Hotel in Bangkok. We are already "mates". We arrived mid morning, and after unpacking my 3 skirts and 3 blouses, the 6 volunteers met in the living area to introduce ourselves to each other and to meet the staff. Lunch followed(rice noodles with fresh veggies and salad and fresh fruit).We were then given a task. We split into two groups, dropped off in town, and had to find items to buy, and the price of trips to holiday resorts. Once finished, we were to catch a Tuk Tuk back to the accommodation centre. It was fun, and the people of Trang were fascinated by white skinned humans, but they were all very friendly and helpful. When they don't understand, they just smile. Dinner is at 6pm each evening. Tonight it was a chicken stir fry with brown rice. It was beautiful and tasty. It has been a long day, and there are 6 very tired volunteers ready for a good sleep. But tomorrow we will all be ready for Day 3. They tell us the rain will cease. I hope they are right, because tomorrow is beach day......
Lovely to hear from you Heather with happy news re Nick and Nikki.

November 21st. Day 1
My first day in the bustling city of Bangkok. After a hairy journey in a taxi from the airport last night, where at one point we were slowed to a stop by an upturned car (I was grateful for the stop, we had been travelling so fast), I thought I would take a quieter ride into town by the hotel limo. However the roads were so jam packed, it took us an hour to do about 10 ks. My driver was also my guide. With great pride he showed me The Grand Palace of the King and Queen of Thailand, and that is no exaggeration, it is magnificent.Visitors are allowed to walk through the grounds. We then went on to see The Reclining Buddha, which reclined the full length of a very large building, and finally, I bartered a guy to nearly half price, on a "Long Boat" trip. It was 6hours before I returned to the hotel, of which half was spent in traffic jams,but it was a most worthwhile and enjoyable experience.
Tomorrow I fly to Trang. I have met one of my fellow volunteers here at the hotel, so we will travel together. The fun will then begin.....
Thanks for the comments. It's good to hear from you all.

ADVENTURES IN THAILAND

This will be a record of my month in Thailand soon to be released as a book and film titled 'Granny Mango's Adventures'

Today Monday 17th November 2008 I am frantically preparing for my departure for TRANG in Thailand to undertake one month of voluntary work in a kindergarten, tidy up the house, and also prepare for Christmas. At least two of these jobs will not get finished.

After completing a challenging THAI language course, enduring multiple injections, commencing my course of malaria tablets, and buying a wardrobe suitable for a buddhist environment, I am now practically set for my trip. I fly out on Thursday, and my long awaited adventure will begin.